ulzzang

English

Etymology

From Korean 얼짱 (eoljjang).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “earliest appearance in English? Urban Dictionary entries date to 2008”)

Noun

ulzzang (countable and uncountable, plural ulzzangs)

1. (uncountable, often used attributively) A South Korean subculture emphasizing idealized beauty, in particular large, round eyes and softened features.
   • 2012, Margo DeMello, Faces Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face‎^[1], page 199:

     The ulzzang look often takes work to achieve.

   • 2015, Woodrow Barfield, Cyber-Humans: Our Future with Machines‎^[2], pages 233–234:

     In other words, an ulzzang girl strives to have behemoth, circular eyes, a tiny nose and mouth, flawless pale skin and a tiny body dressed up in coordinated outfits.

   • 2016, Linda Trinh Võ, “Transnational Beauty Circuits: Asian American Women, Technology, and Circle Contact Lenses”, in LeiLani Nishime, Shilpa Dave, Tasha Oren, editors, Global Asian American Popular Cultures‎^[3], page 310:

     Although ulzzang subculture is about fashion that includes hair and clothing, its emphasis on facial features helped to popularize circle contact lenses.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ulzzang.
2. (countable, South Korean idol fandom) A good-looking person.
   • 2010, "Momokun", "Beauty is PAIN", Asian Outlook (Binghamton University), Volume 23, Issue 4, Spring 2010, page 17:

     These lenses are also made popular by ulzzangs (얼짱), which means “best face.”

   • 2015, Ko Jung-Wook, Jaysek, Reborn, unnumbered page:

     "Hey, she's the ulzzang (pretty face) from Geuman Girls' High School."

   • 2020, Millie Ho, "Hungry Ghost", in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 33, March/April 2020, page 140:

     […] We met on a language exchange

     app, me the English teacher who'd swooped into

     Hongdae like a sudden wind, her the ulzzang who

     dreamed of opening a BBQ restaurant in America.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ulzzang.